Rail-stay.



H. H. SPONENBURG.

' RAIL STAY. APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1911.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Patented July 18, I911.

H. H. SPONENBURG;

RAIL STAY. APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1911. I

'9,59- Patented July 18,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHICAGO,

'Ti fi f It .iihl l it lite l lies e'rceo BARNETT, on

ILLINOIS.

RAlliL-STAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jul}? 9 33%]?- Original application filed necooer 20. 1910, Seri. i No. 588,152. Divided this application. filed April 8,

Serial No. 619,869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, linen: ll. .turonnx- BURG, a citizen oi. the United States, resid 'ing' at Gurnee, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Stays, oi": which the following is a specification.

My invention. relates to articles known as rail. stays, rail anchors or anti-cw tors the type consisting of two or more elemen one of which is provided with tie abutment, or other means for giving; the stay a fixed position with respect to the road. heel, which said elements are arranged. so as to be capable, loy a relative movement of same, of being clamped. to the rail base \vli; a frictional grip; and the invention has or its object to provide in a rail stay of t general character, a novel and improve-cl evice for holding or locking said relativ *ly movable parts against. reverse or looseni movement.

The device in question is one of the locking means shown in my application Serial. No. 588,152, tiled October 20, 1910, but is not claimed therein, the present application. being a division of the aforesaid application.

It will be apparent from the ili'oilowing do scription that the locking device claimed herein. might be used in connection with other forms of rail stays or anchors than the particular form shown.

The invention -is illustrated in coinpanying drawings, 'll8ltlll- Figure l is a sectional elevation showing the stay provided with the locking device of my invention applied to a rail; an inverted plan view of the parts shown in Fin. 1; Fin. 3, a View, in perspective, of i8 tie-abuttingmember; Fig. a plan view of the stay; Figs. 5 and 6, end and side views, respectively, of one of --the jaw members, Figs. 7, 8 and f a side View, an end view, and a plan of the other jaw member, and Fig. 10, a sectional view taken on line 10-10 of t, looking; in the direction of the errors.

1Jlltl:e characters oi? reference indie parts in the several figures of the (lrnwi 'Referring; to the drawings, A design rail and B one of the cross ties on which it is supported.

The ste consists of a tie-shrillinp member the acis constructed, eitli "icatcd at e. i with an opening f v jg-1w member" G with a tongue which lends through said openlllfjj. in this tor the members are linked together so that l. iorward movement of one carries the o1 ".vitli it. Because of the wedge action 01. the jaw nienr hers on the tie abutting; i'neinher a forward nwvement oi the jar s brings them closer together againsttln l. base.

The. device is ice to the rziilhy drii ing the wedges o: i inn nieinhers into the recess in the tieelm'ltinp; ineinlier until a lirni grip the jaws on the rail hose is obtained. Any tendency of the rail tocreep is self checking due to the factthsta tormovement inwardly.

The locking device, which is shown as applied to one or the jaw members only (this bein snllicient. due to the fact that these nieinhe linked together), consists a teeth I which projects baclrwa-rdly from the tie abutting member C and enn with. a series or" teeth J formed on the hoi'toni of the jaw member (3-. Obviously, "f clesirechthe element I might be formed so as to provide more than one'tooth.

The locking device above described may be constructed so as to be manipulated in two different Ways. if the tooth I be formed so that it will he engaged by the teeth J when the Wedges are driven intorecess E'it will be displaced. a trifle in riding ever the teeth .J and Will'spring hack, into one or other of the notches between the teeth so as to prevent it reverse or unclamping move ment of the "wedges. its this displacement has to he very ht it is possible to get this result even when. the jar; member is made 0... malleable if, however,the tobth I r intentionally or by acciclent, or hecause 'eji eagh handling or other ward movement of the jaws necessitates a cause, is found to stand out of engagement with the teeth J when the device 18 assembled on the rail, the engagement may be made either by bending up the tooth which can be done by inserting a crowbar under it, or by bending the wedge down so that it comes into contact with the tooth. My invention Icontemplates'either having the tooth stand in the path of the wedge and utilizing the slight flexibility of the tooth to make a proper locking engagement, or making the tooth I so that it stands out of contact with the teeth J and bending one or other of the elements so as to make the engagement.-

1 have used the term teethto describe likely to be subjected. It has also been pro together and provide the overlapping parts posed to construct a stay of parts pivoted with a ratchet and tooth mechanism and make the pivotal connections loose enough so as to allow the tooth to move over the ratchet. This construction is objectionable because a pivoted structure is not well calculated to stand the great strains put upon rail stays and also because the looseness of the wedges makes it impossible to get a. erfectly positive lock which will not rattle oose with the vibration of the rail. Of course if it be attempted to form with the coengaging teeth the contacting surfaces of 7 two elements, one of which slidesover the other, the teeth prevent any rigid enga e-" ment of the parts with each other and with the rail base. My locking device, however, does not involve any of these difiiculties.

' While it may have some slight flexibility it has not the objection that a spring pawl or tooth has. The lateral arrangement of the tooth with respect to the member on which it is formed, that is, the formation of the tooth as a projection from the edge of said member permits a rigid engagement between said member, in the case shown, the tie abutting member, and the other member or members of the stay, to-wit, the jaw-carrying I members. The wedges Hcan be driven as tightly as may be desired into the recess in the member C regardless of the tooth I which either yields in riding over the rack formed on the under side of one of these wedges, or

. is constructed so as to'stand away from said teeth andbe afterward engaged therewith. 5' Y do not claim herein the structure of the rail stay herein shown except in connection wit-h means, specific or generic, for lockin the relatively movable parts together as the rail stay by itself is claimed in my application above mentioned.

I claim: I

1. A rail stay comprising in combination a stationary member, two jaw-carrying mem bers, and means for positively locking the jaw-carrying members in their TOS])(.('lI1\'0 operative positions with relation to the stationary member when tightenedginto clamping position upon a rail.

2. A rail stay comprising in combination, a stationary member, twojaw-carrying members, and means for positively locking tho jaw-carrying members to the stationary member.

3. A rail stay com risingincombination, a tie abutting member, two jaw-carrying members, coengaging means on' said members which draws thejaw-carrying members together when moved toward the tie against which the tie-abutting mcmberbears, and meansfor positivcly locking said jaiw n-icmbers when tightened to clamping position.

4. A' rail stay comprising in combination,

--a tie abutting member;- two jaw-carrying members, coengagi-ng means on said members which draws the jaw-carrying members together when moved toward the tie against which the tie-abutting member bears, and means for positively locking said jaw-carrying members to said tie-abutting member.

5. A rail stay comprising in combination, a tie-abutting member, two jaw-carrying members, coengaging means on said members which draws the jaw-carryipg members together when moved toward the tie against which the tie-abutting member bears,- said jaw-carrying members being linked one to the other so that they move tdgether, and means for locking one of said jaw-carrying members to the tie abutting member.

' 6. A rail stay comprising in combination, a tie-abutting member, two jaw-carrying members, coengaging means on said members which draws the jaw-carrying members together when moved toward the tie against which the tie-abutting member bears, said Jaw-carrying members being linked one to the other so that they move together, and means for locking one of said jaw-carrying members to thetie-abutting member com-v prising a rack and a tooth which engages said rack. I

7. Av rail stay comprising in combination, a tie-abutting member, two jaw-carrying members, coengaging-means on said members which draws the jaw-carrying members together when moved toward the tie againstwhich the tie-abutting member bears, said aw-carrying members being linked one to the other so that they move together,- and means for locking one of said jaw-carrying members to, the tierabutting member, comseason prising a rack on said jaw-carrying member, and a tooth on the tie-abutting member.

8. In a rail stay, the combination with a tie-abutting member, of means constituting a rail clamp comprising a jaw-carrying member having movement with respect to said tieabutting member longitudinally of the rail, one of said two specified members being provided with a tooth and the other of said members being provided with a part adapted .to be bent into locking engagement with said tooth after the device has been assembled and clamped upon a rail.

9. In a rail stay, the combination with a stationary member, of two jaw-carrying members having relative movement with respect to said stationary member, one of said members being provided with a tooth and another of said members being provided with an integrally cast part normally out of Contact with said tooth when the parts are assembled but adapted to be bent into locking engagement with said tooth after the parts have been assembled.

10. In a rail stay, the combination with a tie-abutting member formed with a tapered undercut channel on its upper surface, of jaw-carrying members, one of which is formed with a tongue and the other with a groove adapted to receive said tongue, both being formed with transverse wedges adapted to be received in the channel in said tie-abutting member, a tooth which pro- .jects from the edge of said tie-abutting member, and a rack on the under side of one of said wedges.

11. A rail stay comprising a plurality of relatively movable .clamping mei'nbers, a tooth on one of said elements which projects from the edge thereof and is adapted to be bent a trifle, and a pluralityof teeth on the other element with which said tooth is designed to engage.

12. A rail stay comprising a plurality of relatively movable clamping elements, a tooth integrally formed on one of said elements so that it projects from the edge of the same, which tooth is adapted to be bent a trifle, and a plurality of teeth on the other element with which said tooth is designed to engage. 1

18. A rail stay comprising a plurality of relatively movable clamping members, a tooth on one of said elements Which projects from the edge thereof and is adapted to be bent a trifle, and a plurality of teeth on the.

other element with which said tooth is designed to engage,'said element's formed so as to have a wedge action one upon the other.

14. A rail stay comprising a stationary member, two jaw-carrying members, and means for positively locking one of said jaw-carrying members to the stationary,

member consisting of a tooth formed so as to project from the edge of said stationary member, and a series of teeth formed on said last mentioned jaw-carrying member.

15. A rail stay comprising a stationary member, two jaw-carrying members, and means for positively locking one of said jaw-carrying members to the stationary member consisting of a tooth formed so as to project from the edge of said stationary member, a series of teeth formed on said last mentioned jaw-carrying member, and means for linking the aw-carrying members together.

HIRAM H. SPONENBURG.

Witnesses A. L. Lawson, I). A. WEALE. 

